Closure for vehicle bodies



' July 25 1944 1 R. A. FONTAINE .2,354,450

; v CLOSURE FIOR VEA-ICLE BODIES y Filed June is, 1940 s sheets-sheet 1his 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 13, 1940 Patented July 25, 1944 cresimaFOR vEIcI-JE isonl'Es Roberft AIlontane, Va.

Application 51lne'21af1940`, 'serieu Ne.y 340,405 n 'Y ricains.' (onzen-196) This invention relates generallyto closures for vehicle bodies andmore particularly'to closures of the type in which the openrearend'foffthe vehicle body is enclosed' by a pair of doors, usuallysupplemented by a vtail gate.

In the design of closures for openings in vehicle bodies attentionfzhas`heretofore been directed principally to means for efletivelyclosing thedoorsY to prevent 'their opening in Ltransit. While such singlemindedness of purpose 'is not rparticularly objectionable in ordinary-auto` mobiles in which the doorways can besati'sfactorily braced, it isextremely so in delivery trucks and trailers in which bracing of `thebody adjae cent its open rear end is not only very expensive but alsonecessitates curtailmen'tof the usable lspace within the body. Insteadof attacking this problem froma different angle, manufacfturers havecontinued to rely upon ,inadequate reinforcement of therear endsof 7suchbodies with the result that they are incapable of resisting the twistingand bending forces4 to which they are continually subjected in serviceand'disin.- tegrate in a relatively brief period. The primary object ofthe invention is to` pro-'- v ide a closure for an opening in aavehi-clebody which, `when closed, Aforms a substantially rigid 4panel connectingthe sides ofthe vopening and bracing the body against distortion.l v lAnother object of the invention is to provide a olosurefor an opening.in a vehicle body Vwhich fits snugly against the surfaces ,o f y thebody denne ing theopening whereby the interior of the. body is sealedagainst weatherdamage. v

Another object of the invention is tornarci/ide substantiallynon-deformable strips .mountable on the edges .ofthe ymembers.closingfanopening in a vehicle body, whereby theabove objects are attained, whichcan be A readily produced and at- -tached to the closure members. .e

A'further object .of the invention is toprovide interlocking membersmountable .on-:the lcon.- ltiguous .edges of a .pair o f rdoorsclosingan Vopening by which the doorsvcan. be-locked against relative movement.A still further object o'the inventionds to providefailocking mechanismfor a pair ofv doors-hav- -ing interlocking members on their contiguousredges `which is mounted in one off'the interlocking members. y v' Anradditional.object'of th'einvention is to pro? vide a chain lock forla'ltail gateby which ac- :cidentalunlatching of the tailgate isprevented.

In the drawings' illustrating a preferred emybodimen't fof theinvention: v e Figure lfis an end elevational View of va vehicle bodyshowing the vdoors and tail gate' in closed position;

Figure 2 isa horizontalsectional view of the rear, end of the bodytaken'along the lines' 2- 2 -of'fFigure f1, looking in ythe vdirectionof Athe are erows.

'.Figure 3 is a view `on 'an enlarged scaleof the flocking mechanism atthe upper extremity of the Figur`e4 is a"horizontalfsectional view takenalong-thelines I-'Loft-Figurev 3, d:looking in the idirection ofthearrows; y l l .'-Figure -5 is 'a vertical sectional view taken -along'Vthelines '5-"5 of VFigure 4, looking'in the g ydirection of the arrows.

Figure 6 is an enlarged cross sectional View Vtaken alongthe'flineslili4 of: Figure 14, looking 4in V'the direction' o i the arrows,v withportions kbroken away l'to more 'clearlyshow the: means for 4locking'thelever arrnin door closing position.

Figure Il is an enlarged view of the Acentral .portiony of AFigure "2,with kthedoors partially open, the Iock'ng mechanism' at their lowerextremities being 'shown schematically.

' AFigure 8v is `an enlarged cross sectional View takn along the lnesI-lorlligure 1 I OOking in the direction Qf thearrpws.

AFigureQ is a view,ofthe'lowernextremity of the 4 doors and the adjacentportionof the ztailr gate taken. on the vsame vertical plane' as Figure5,.y

` Figure 10 is .fa cross sectional view 'oi one ofthe seali'ng'stripswhich arekapplied tonallexceptthe confronting dges of the doors.'

1 .E igure 1 '1A is Jan elevational view of I a portion rofthe',sealingstripshown in Figure 10. V

u kIgure'flZ is a. cross. sectional View fof ,the interlocking member..applied tothe .inner Aedge of one ofthe-doors. y `,..Figure 13 isanfelevationaleyiew of .a portion of the interlocking member Shownifi-:Figline :1 2

V Figurell isa Lcross` setona ew of the interlocking member applied :tothe f conrontingedge offthe otherfdoor. l

Figure 15 isfan elevational ViewY of a portion of the interlockingmember shownzinv 'Figure 14.

Figure l`6'is :an Ielevational view of. fthe door lo ckingv mechanismmountedin lthe interlocking member @nene or thedo'orswiththefsurroudingjstructure removed.` to inoreclearly show the detailsof-bonstructionf '5 'F Y' Figure-l'l'is an enlargedsideelevatonal viewof the lower portion of the rear end of the body showing the chain lockfor the tail gate latch in locked position.

Figure 18 is an elevational view of the tail gate latch.

Figure 19 is an end elevational View of the latch of Figure 18.

Figure is an elevational view of one of the door latching elements.

Figurev 21 .is anendelevational-viewvof the element of Figure 20.'A

Referring more particularly to the drawings, l

designates the body of a truck, trailer or otherjvehicle of which onlythe rear portion is illus-V trated.

The rear end of the body is capable of being opened for loading andunloading and is bounded by the side walls 2 of the body, a facia plate3 forming a support for the roof 4, and a floor` 5 which is carried on achannel beam 6 extending between the side walls of the body;l I

The closure for thefrear end ofthe :bodyfincludes a pair of horizontallyswinging doors 'I and 8, `preferably supplemented -by a verticallyswinging tail gate or tail board '9. When the gate 9 is used inconjunctionwith the doors it is usuallypositioned below the doors andadapted to :close that portion ofthe rear end ofthebody over which thedoors do not extend. The doors are hingedlyor pivotally attachedadjacent vtheir f outer ends to the'side walls on opposite sides of therear end of the body by hinges I0, the straps Il of whichdesirablygextend acrossjthe outerv or rear faces I2 of ,thedoors for a,substantial portion of their width to both reinforce the doors anddistribute their weight over a greater area. The, tail gate is hingedlyattachedadjent its lower end to the body byA a hinge I3l whichvmay bemounted on the beam 6.

As a requisitey of the `rigidity required of .fthe

limits, are provided,respectivelywith strips, cover l plates orinterlocking members I4 and I5.'v To enable these membersv to engageandinterlock or intertthe outer surfaces of the base plates I4a and I5 ofthe members I4 and I5,' respectively, are complementally formed, theouter surfae` I6 `of the plate ME being concavew'an'd the correspondingsurface I'I of the plate [53 being convex. Additionally, the confrontingsurfaces are preferably cylindrical, .and while their radii need not beequal, substantial equality is desirable because of the advantages ofthe resulting surface contact betweenthe engaging Vsurfaces over theline contact which would otherwise -be obtained. While the radii of`thevcurved surfaces are'not'of particular moment, they shouldnot exceedthose of the arcs described by the surfaces `on opening of the doors,since such slightly curved surfacesV would be incapablel of -lockingthedoors against'relativ'e or`indepen'dent movement'. For reasons to be"discussed, infra, the plate`I5l, between vits outer and. inner or doorvabutting 'surfaces, is formed in the shape of a Cior interrupted ringvthe inner Walls of which-define a cylindrical recessy or aperture I8extending longitudinallyof the plat eits axis being substantiallyparallel to that of--its outer surface.

the doors are made of wood-.as arethose illusltrated in the drawings,the memberscanbe attached satisfactorily through integrally formedtongues or ribs I9 which extend longitudinally of and project outwardlyfrom the inner surfaces of the base plates of the members, intermediatetheir edges. To accommodate the tongues the edges of the doors aregrooved or channeled; the tongues, when seated in the grooves, beingsecured in place, as by countersunk screws. The strips or interlockingmembers may be made of any material having therequired strength andformability. However, as' the shapes here desired' are' readilyextrudable, aluminum is preferred because of its lightness.

`The door closing or locking mechanism includesa shaft 20 which isrotatably mounted in the recess I8 in the plate I5 and extends -beyondthe upper and lower extremities of the doors.

Fixedly attached or carried on the shaft adjacent its ends is a pair ofdogs or cam lingers 2|. The shaft and the attendant dogs are actuated.or rotated by a lever arm or actuating bar-22 which is 'xedly attachedor secured to the shaft intermediate its ends. While the lever armcouldbe attached to the shaft adjacent the lower limits'of the door byshortening the rinterlocking members the requisite amount, it ispreferable to attach it to the shaft intermediate the ends of theinterlocking members so that it may share with the yupper dog the burdenof supporting the load kof the shaft. This is 'accomplished 'with aminimum loss of material4 in the interlocking members by so shaping thecollared head 23 of the lever arm that the convex outer face of theinterlocking member by which itis carried will be uninterrupted, and byoffsetting or angularly disposing the neck 24`of the lever arm adjacentthe head to permit the major portion of the arm to lie parallel to theouter face of the door. Although this constructionv necessitatesrecessing of both interlocking members, one to accommodatethe headof thelever arm and the other to accommodate the neck on operation of thelever, it enables both the continuity of the interlocking members andtheleak-proof juncture between the doors to be retained.

The coacting or cooperating parts of the locking lmechanism are a pairof brackets 25 having cam or dog engaging hooks 26 which are mountedadjacent the upper and lower limits of the tail gate and facia plate,respectively, the brackets abutting the inner surfaces of the gate andfacia plate and the hooks extending through appropriate recesses 21 -inthese members. To enable the hooks to face in the same direction, thebrackets are made right and left. If the tail gate Were to be dispensedwith the lower bracket would be similarly attached tothe body memberconnecting the side Walls below the opening.k After the doors have beenpartly closed, manually, the dogs engage their respective hooks. Thelever arm is then actuated and the doors forced into' and locked inclosed position by the cam action of the dogs. Conversely, reversemovement of the vlever will both unlock` the doorsv and force .themvpartly open.

For maintaining the., doors inclosed lpositlon, there-ispreferably-provided a locking linger 28 which is rotatably mounted onthe'leveraarm vadjacent its outer4 edge and adapted gto' interlock withthe lip 29 of the recessed retaining plug 30 mounted in the door `8.Unauthorized opening of the doors can be prevented by slotting the leverarmn to accommodate a staple 3I mounted in the door and adapted to.carry any suitable. locking` device, such asithe-illustratedpadloclc 32.

The uppenlower and outer edgestof-thedoors are preferably fitted. withsealing strips. or cover. plates33 which, with theinter1ocking..members, form va continuous. framework.. or reinforcementaround each of the doors. Thesealingstrips have substantially flat outersurfaces 34', unlikethose of the lockingsmembers..althoughthey maybeattached similarly tothe. doors by the provision of longitudinallyextending. .tongues or ribs 35 which project outwardly from theirinnerfacesandare adapted to seat in grooves inthe. edges o-f the doors. Likethe interlockingmembers, the sealing strips are preferably made. ofaluminum. Byv mounting upon all but the contiguous edges of the doorsstrips having smoothwear resistantsurfaces, close contact or tightengagement between the doors and the yadjacent faces of the facia plateside walls and tailgate is madefeasible.

-To prevent rotting. of. the doors by seepage of moisture between thedoor edges and their cover plates, both the sealing stripsandtheinterlocking members are desirably pro-vided with ribs `or,flanges 36 which project outwardly. from and extend longitudinally ofthe inner surfaces of these members adjacent their outer edgesandoverlie and abut the adjacent portions of theouter or rear faces of thedoors.. The flangesmay, also be.

utilized to secure cover or iinishingsheets 31 of metal, plastic orother material to the outer faces of the doors, the flanges for thispurpose being spaced from vthe doors. Such. sheets not only enhance theoutward appearance of thedoors but protect them from. the ravages of theweather.

'Iehe edges of the facia' plate, side walls and tail gate, which denethe doorway, may be reinforced bY edge or abutment members or reinforc-`ing bars 38 which are attached to the edges in any suitable manner. Thereinforcing bars are preferably Z-shaped, each havinga web connecting apair of spaced oppositelyV disposed flanges, of which one pro-jects intothe doorway'and4 the other abuts and partially overlies the rear face ofthe member to which the bar is secured. When the doors are closed, thewebs'ofthe reinforcing bars form the engaging faces of the facia plate,side Walls and tail gate against which the sealing strips on the doorsabut, nand, ythe inwardly projecting flanges form abutments for theinner faces of the doors, thereby acting as both a` stop to limitthe'inward'movement ofthe doors and a seal against the entrance offreignmatter into the interior of 'the vehicle body. The advantage attendantthe use'ofthe flangswhich overlie the outer'faces of the? doorwaydefining members is the preventionof 'seepage 'of moisture between thereinforcing'bars andthe members. For the reception ofthe dogs 21, the'central portions of the reinforcing bars on the facia plate vandtailgateare cutaway with the exception'ofthe'flanges which project inwardly-ofthedoorway, the latter' beingutilized-both as reinforcements and as themembers to which the brackets 25 are secured. The reinforcing bars ontheside Ywalls preferablyv extend the full height of theside walls so thatthey may form a backstop for the tailgate as well as the doors. The sidewalls may: further be reinforced by the provisionof angle irons 39 ofwhich one leg abuts the outerface andthe other the rear face of eachside Wall, the latter leg overlapping the rear face engaging: flange ofthe Z-bar. e

Since the effectiveness of they door locking gagementlbetween the-hook26 'carriedby the tail gate and its cooperating dog which: tends to'force thetail gate outwardly, itis desirableto provide means forlatchingthetail gate in closed position, which will. not openaccidentally. lFor this purposev there isv provided a chain lockincluding a. latch or catch 40 pivotally mounted' on the outer side faceof one of the side walls'and having a dependinglip 4I which is adaptedto engage a projecting vend of a bar 42 carried by the tail gateadjacent its upper limit. The bar may be attached to the tailfgate by.anysuitable means, as by welding it to a iinishingsheet 43 secured tothe outer face of the tail gate. Intermediate the ends of the latch itsshank 44 is offset outwardly from` the side wall;vr Merging with andrising Ifromthis offset portion of the shank is a pair of spacedupstanding horns or prongs 45. As is customary,l the outward movement ofthe tail gate is limited bya chain 46, one end of which is here attachedto the bar'42 outwardly of its lip engaging portion and the other to theside wall.r

In operation, the lip of the latch is rst hooked overthe bary and thechain vis then intermeshed or interlocked with the horns by threading itthrough the slot defined by thehorns. When the doors are subsequentlyclosedl in the manner previously explained, they are forced `into tight`engagement with each other and with the facia plate, side walls and.tailgatathereby forming, in effect, .a solid end panel for thek vehiclebody which is capable of b-racing the rearv end of the body againstundesired movement. 4 y

From the foregoing detailed description vof the accompanying drawings itwillbe apparent that there has been provided a novel closure for anopening in a vehicle body whichis capable not only of forming a weatherseal for the interior of the body but also of bracing the body againstmovement under the impetus of the forces to which it is subjected intransit, which formerly limitedthe effective life of the body toarelatively short period.

It should be lunderstood that the drawings merely illustrate a preferredembodimentof the invention and all such modifications are intended tobeincluded as depart neither from the vspirit of the invention nor thescope of the appended claims. v v

Having now described my invention, fclaim:

1.y In a truck body, the combination. of closure members for the openend thereof, said members comprising. a tail gate hingedly attached tosaid bodyand a pair of doors each of which is hingedly mounted on oneside of said opening, the inner edges of said doors havingcomplementally curved interlocking faces, said faces being xed againstrelative movement with referencev to said. doors, a rotatable membermounted in one of :saiddoors adjacent theinner edge thereof, andfmeanscarried by said body anditail gate and cooperating with said rotatablemember for locking said doors and gate in closed position.

2. Aclosure'for theopenendv of a vehicle' body comprising a' pair ofdoors hingedly attached adjacent their outer edges to said body onopposite sides of said opening, the inner Vedges of said doors beingcomplementally curvedand adapted tointerlock when said doors are inclosed position, th'e curved edgev of each doorbeing'A rigidr therewith,a gate 'hingedly attached to. said body, a rotatable member carriedb'yone. of said doors adjacent its, .inner edge,. and m'eans ,carriedbymechanism is^dependent, in' part, ulJ'Onthe en- 7 5- Saidfgate'aridlbody and *coacting with. said .-rotat-y able member `for lockingsaid doors and gate in closed position.

3. In a closure for an opening in a vehicle body, the combination of apair of doors hingedly mounted adjacent their outer edges to said bodyon opposite sides of said opening', abutment means mounted on edges .ofsaid body defining said-opening, reinforcing means mounted on thecorresponding edges of said doors, interlocking members -carried on thecontiguous faces of said doors and having complementally curved engagingfaces for locking saiddoors against relative movement when said doorsare closed, and means associated with one of said doors for closing saiddoors and forcing said reinforcing means into tight engagement with saidabutment means to form a rigid connection between the sides of saidbody.

- 4. In a closure for an opening in a vehicle body, the combination of apair of doors hingedly attached adjacent their outer edges to said bodyon opposite sides of said opening, reinforcing bars carried on edges ofsaid body defining said opening, sealing strips carried on thecorresponding edges of said doors, interlocking members carried on the`inner edges of said doors, the outer face of one of said members beingconcave and adapted to conform to the complementally formed outer faceof the other of said members, said latter member havingk alongitudinally extending substantially cylindrical recess, a shaftrotatably mounted in saidrecessed member, a dog secured to said shaftadjacent one end thereof, and a lever secured to said shaft intermediateits ends, said dog being adapted to engage means secured tosaid body onthe operation of said lever and force said interlocking members intoengagement and said sealing strips into close contact with saidreinforcing bars, said doors, when closed, thereby forming a rigidconnection between the sides of said body, l

lv `v|`5. A closure for an opening in a vehicle body comprising a pairof doors pivotallyattached adjacent their outer edges to said body onopposite sides of said opening, interlocking members carried on theinner edges'of said doors, one of said members having a concavely curvedouter face, the corresponding face ofthe other of said members beingcomplementally curved, a shaft rotatably mounted within one of saidmembers, actuating means attached to said shaft intermediate its ends,and means on said shaft for coacting with means secured to said body andforcing said interlocking members into engagement on operation of saidactuating means 6. Mechanism for locking a tail gate on a vehicle bodyin closed position comprising a bar secured to and projecting outwardlyof said tail gate, a latch pivotally attached to said body and adaptedto clamp over said bar, a chain extending between and connecting saidbar and body, said chain being of the length required to limit theoutward movement of the tail gate to the desired extent, and a pair ofspaced horns upstanding from said latch, said chain being adapted to beintermeshed with said horns to lock said latch in bar clamping position.

7. In a closure for an opening in a vehicle body, the combination of apair of doors hingedly attached adjacent their outer edges to said bodyon opposite sides of said opening, a reinforcing member secured to anedge of said body and having a flange extending into said opening, saidflange being adapted to act as a stop to limit the inward movement ofsaid doors, interlocking members attached tothe confronting edges of`said doors through tongues seated in grooves in said doors, theengaging faces of said interlocking members being complementally curvedVfor locking said doors when closed against relative movement, and meansrotatably mounted inY one of said members for closing said doors.

8, In a closure for an opening in a vehicle body, the combination of apair of doors hingedly attached to said body adjacent their outer endson opposite sides of said opening, interlocking members mounted on edgesof said doors and having tongues extending into grooves in said doorsand flanges overlying the outer faces of said doors, sheets mounted onthe outer faces of said doors and secured thereto by the flanges of saidinterlocking members, the outer surfaces of the interlocking membersmounted on the contiguous edges of said doors being complementallycurved and adapted to interlock to prevent relative movement of saiddoors, and means rotatably mounted in one of said interlocking membersand coacting with means secured to said body for forcing said doors intoclosed position.

9. In a closure for the open end of a vehicle body, the combination of apair of doors hingedly attached adjacent their outer edges to said bodyon opposite sides of said opening and having channeled edges, coverplates attached to the edges of said doors, each of said plates having alongitudinally extending tongue seated in one of said channels and aflange projecting from said plate adjacent its louter edge and overlyingthe outer face of one of said doors, sheets mounted on the outer facesof said doors and secured thereto by the flanges on said plates, theplate on the inner edge of one of said doors having a concavely curvedsurface adapted to interlock with a convexlycurved surface on thecorresponding plate on the other of said doors, said latter plate havinga cylindrical recess the axis of which is substantially parallel to theaxis of said convex surface, a shaft rotatably received in said recessand having'a dog adjacent one end and a lever arm intermediate its ends,and a hook secured to said body, said dog being adapted to engage saidhook and force said curved surfaces into interlocking relation onoperation of said lever.

l0; Interlocking' members for the confronting edges of a pairof doors,each comprising a base plate and a tongue projecting from and extendinglongitudinally of its inner face, the base plate of one of said membersbeing in the form of an interrupted ring having a cylindrically convexouter face adapted to interlock with the complementally formed outerface of the base plate of the other of said members, said interruptedring defining a cylindrical recess extending longitudinally of saidplate.

11. Interlocking members for the confronting edges of a pair of doors,each comprising a base plate and a tongue projecting from and extendinglongitudinally of its inner face, the base plate of one of said membersincluding a longitudinally extending cylindrical recess and having aconvexly curved vouter face adapted to interlock with the concavelycurved outer face of the base plate of the other of said members.

12. Interlocking members for the confronting edges of a pair of doors,each comprising a base plate and a tongue projecting from and extendinglongitudinallyof the inner face of said plate, the outer face ofthe,base plate of one of said members being convex and'adapted tointerlock interrupted ring defining a cylindrical recess extendinglongitudinally of said plate.

14. A chain lock for a tail gate on a vehicle body, comprising a barSecured to and projecting outwardly of said tail gate, a latch pivotallyattached to said body and adapted to engage said bar, a chain connectingsaid bar and body, and a prong upstanding from said latch and adapted tointermesh with said chain to lock said latch in 10 bar engagingposition.

ROBERT A. FONTAINE.

